THE TRIGGER OF A TRAP — the baited stick that springs it, and so anything set in a person's way that brings them down; the verb skandalizō is to spring it on someone. English has no noun for it and every version reaches for a phrase: 'stumbling-block', 'cause of sin', 'offence'. ⚠ The KJV's 'offend' and 'offences' is a genuine false friend — in 1611 it meant to cause a stumble, not to give umbrage, so 'if thy right eye offend thee' (18:9) has nothing to do with taking offence. Matthew 18:6-7 is the hardest use, better a millstone than to trip one of these little ones; and Paul turns the same word on the cross itself, 'a skandalon to Jews and folly to Greeks' (1 Corinthians 1:23) — not an obstacle to be cleared away but the offence at the centre. → first discussed at Matt 18:6